No. 22 Volleyball Drops Road Match at No. 20 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 22 University of Arkansas volleyball team lost its first SEC match of the season Wednesday night with a straight-set loss at No. 20 Kentucky. Pilar Victoria finished the match with 13 kills and 11 digs to complete her eighth double-double of the season, while Monica Bollinger tied her season high with 13 digs to move up in the program’s records book. With the result, Arkansas is now 13-3 overall and 3-1 in SEC play.

With her eighth dig of the match, Bollinger tied Iva Docekalova (2002-05) for 13th place in program history in career digs. Bollinger finished the match with a team-high 13 digs and now has 896 in her career. Wednesday’s effort was her third double-digit showing of the season, and first during SEC play.

After a back-and-forth start to the match and the score tied at 12-all, Arkansas scored four straight to take a 16-12 lead on an attack error by the home team. The Razorbacks built their lead to as much as five points at 21-16 after Victoria and Chanell Clark-Bibbs put up a tandem block. However, Kentucky (12-5, 5-0 SEC) used a 9-2 run down the stretch to rally for the set win.

Down two sets in the match, the Razorbacks jumped out to 9-4 advantage in the third set after kills from Barbara Dapic and Breana Jones. Jones finished the night with eight kills and a .471 hitting percentage. As was the case in the first, Kentucky responded with a run of its own to take a 16-13 lead. Arkansas fought back to pull even at 17-all. The score went on to be tied at each point until 21-21 when the Wildcats scored the final four points to close out the win.

Wednesday’s match was the last in a string of seven consecutive against teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks finished the stretch with a 5-2 record; six of the seven matches were played away from Barnhill Arena. Arkansas returns to action with another road match Sunday, Oct. 11, at Tennessee. First serve of the conference matchup is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed live on ESPN3 and through the WatchESPN app.

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